


It's Just a Headache

by Tonystarkisaslut



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Gen, Headaches & Migraines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonystarkisaslut/pseuds/Tonystarkisaslut
Summary: Headache/Migraine square on my card.Tony gets the worst headache of his life.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883158
Kudos: 22
Collections: Bad Things Happen





	It's Just a Headache

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: this is based off my personal experience with migraines. I had chronic migraines for about three years, and I remember the worst of it vividly; thus, this fic.

Tony gulps down his pain killers with his coffee; waking up with a headache is always the worst way to start a day. However, the pills should kick in within an hour, so he can head down to the lab and do paperwork.

So he sits on the couch, attempting and failing to just enjoy his coffee before they kick in. After half an hour of waiting for the pain to subside, though, it’s only gotten worse. 

He feels nauseous, so breakfast is out of the question. He also does something that he personally considers to be a sin--he dumps the rest of his coffee down the sink. 

He rubs at his eyes, shoulders slumping. He can’t _think_ like this. Thinking is what he’s _good_ at. 

And dammit; he’s had awake open heart surgery, he’s fallen out of the sky and hit the ground, he died--several times--and he’s been beaten in every way imaginable. It’s just a headache. 

Still, this headache _sucks_. 

He groans aloud, pulling his hands back and through his hair. He winces as his eyes are exposed to the bright kitchen lights yet again. “Fri, lights down to 1%.”

He can relax slightly as his eyes adjust, the light sensitivity factor removed. He makes his way to the freezer, pulling out an ice pack and taking it over with him to the couch.

Laying down, he fixes the pack over his eyes and listens to the silence. Usually, this will make his headache go away.

It helps a little, but it really only went from an eight to a six. His skull pounds, and he feels like bullets are trying to swim their way through his blood vessels. There are knives digging into the inside of his forehead; there are hammers pounding his temples in. 

The pain makes his stomach curdle, and he swallows thickly. 

After what feels like an eternity of silently and blindly waiting for relief, he throws the ice pack off in frustration. Anger and tears will only make a headache worse; so he takes several deep breaths and calms himself. 

He makes his way back into the kitchen, sipping water slowly. It makes his nausea worse, and doesn’t help his headache like it’s supposed to, so he sighs and puts the glass down. 

He leans against the counter and squeezes at his head, almost as if he’s trying to literally push it away.

Normally, his headaches are mildly distracting. a dull thud at the front, maybe sharp pangs under his eyebrow. Worst case, dull pressure all over the top of his head. 

This one is ten times all of those combined. 

The boredom is killing him; he wants to listen to music or watch the news; better yet, he wants to _work_. None of those are options, though. 

He makes his way back to the couch, sitting as still as possible and staring at the wall through the darkness. Even the small amount of light is hurting his eyes.

Tony shakes his head--regretting it immediately; he feels like his brain is rattling around in there--and stands.

Maybe a nap would be a reset.

Maybe it would or maybe it wouldn’t; Tony simply can’t ignore the pain long enough to drift off into the sweet release of unconsciousness. The ice pack gone and the medicine having worn off by now, his headache has gone back up the pain scale. 

Tony read somewhere that breaking a femur is the most painful thing a human being can ever experience--a ten. He had his arm fractured once; that was kinda bad; six. He also read that most women describe childbirth as the most painful thing; so that’s a nine. 

He would rate this headache an eight. eight and a half, if lights are on. 

At least when he had open heart surgery, the adrenaline numbed it some. 

He tosses and turns in bed, willing his headache to just _stop_ , but he knows it won’t. he fights the urge to whimper like a kicked puppy; it won’t help anything. 

He looks at the clock on his nightstand and gasps. It’s 9:00 pm. 

_He wasted the entire day trying to escape a stupid headache._

He lets loose a soft whine; no one is here to judge him. No one needs to know. 

“It’s just a headaches,” he whispers to the empty room. Even that makes the knives in his head scrape painfully. 

He turns over and tries to stay still; tries to wait for sleep to save him. He hopes that when he wakes up, he won’t have to deal with it again tomorrow. 


End file.
